Gaining a heart of wisdom
When my sons were small, I kept a running list of their funny sayings in my journal or in the memory books I kept for each of them. Many of the most amusing or surprising were questions: "What's inside my tongue?""Did Moses watch tv?""Does Penny (our dog) pray?" They kept me on my toes, but… Continue reading Does Your Life Inspire Questions from Your Grandkids?
Family ties are God’s great gift for teaching us how to get along. If I had never had children, I would imagine all sorts of good things about myself that are not true—that I am patient and unselfish, tolerant and quick to forgive. Living in close proximity with four sons, a mortal husband, and a… Continue reading The Great Gift of Living with Your Fallen Family
Whenever I open the pages of my Bible, I read about real people and their encounters with a compassionate God who welcomes the shifty and the shy, the bombastic and the bumbler, the liar, and the lecher. Grace paves over some pretty rocky personal landscapes in both the Old and the New Testaments. Even so,… Continue reading Are You Preparing Your Son To Be God’s Strong Warrior?
Fifteen years ago, we took a cross-country road trip with four kids, a minivan, and a big tent. About a third of the way across the country, weary of feuding brothers in close quarters, we were ready to throw in the towel and come home. One thought sent us westward with renewed resolve: What story… Continue reading Held Together by the Powerful Force of a Story
If you're looking for me in the summertime, you're likely to find me standing under a floppy sunhat, weeding, picking, or just wandering around in the garden. The work of the garden is not measured by time but by task. There is no standard of perfection (at least not in my garden!). The job is… Continue reading What’s Your Favorite Place in All the World?
My son called with a question, and (for a change) the call was actually for me. (I don't do home renovation or car repair questions.) He had been raking blueberries and had settled down to pick them over, removing the unripe berries, leaves, and stems. It's slow and painstaking work. "How clean do you get… Continue reading Think About What You Want to See on Your Plate
When you’re five years old, baking cookies with your Sunday school teacher at her house on a Saturday morning is just about the best thing in the world. The moment I arrived to pick up my son, I could tell by his beaming face that he had enjoyed every minute of the baking, the snacking,… Continue reading Little People with Big Feelings: 5 Strategies For Emotionally Healthy Kids
We propped the lopsided flannel board against the back of the couch, and my grandkids organized the slightly dogeared images, arguing for a minute about who would get to "do the snake." Apparently, Moses wore a bright pink striped robe in his encounter with the burning bush and didn't have time to change before his… Continue reading Bring the Kids You Love Heart to Heart with the Bible
For a family with four sons, close in age like little stairsteps, it seems impossible to fly under the radar. In restaurants, other customers would approach our table with compliments about boys who ate salad or boys who managed themselves politely. We may have heard more than our share of admonitions to "enjoy this stage… Continue reading How Your Imperfect Family Can Make an Eternal Impact
We are covered to the elbows in red and green paint, but the festive wrapping paper stretched out to dry on the table before us more than justifies the mess. The toddler points to his distinctively tiny handprints and smiles his satisfaction, as his older brothers start wondering aloud about cocoa with candy cane stirrers.… Continue reading To the Woman Who Feels Crowded by Christmas
Living Our Days 